Secret Files of Area 51
by Bookworm Gal
Summary: He crashed in 1947. He escaped in 2011. Between those two events is over sixty years worth of his life spent of a strange planet, surrounded by strange beings in a hidden location. Some of it was unnerving and worrying. But some was actually fairly fun.
1. 1947: part 1

**Once more, I am insanely starting another story. Even stranger, this category falls fairly far outside my usual style. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the movie (it was a movie specifically designed to appeal to sci-fi fans and geeks of the world… I qualify as both) and saw some real potential to expand on it. I watched it twice since I enjoyed the references and the general fun of film, meaning I can now remember plenty of the little details about it. Thus, I find myself starting off another story against my will. How long it will end up being (and what type of crazy updating schedule I will end up following) is anyone's guess at this point. I hope you enjoy it.**

**Specifically, I am focusing on the time between Paul crashing in 1947 and his escape over sixty years later. That's loads of time for events to happen. Thus, his behavior will be slightly different at the start of the story and he'll slowly start acting more like how he was in the movie towards the end. After all, he just crash-landed on a strange planet; that is bound to make anyone a little uneasy.**

Secret Files of Area 51

The first thought that popped into his mind as he regained awareness was the fact that crashing was not fun. Actually, between the impact tossing him around the now-collapsed space of the ship's interior and his splitting headache, he was determined to never be in a crash ever again. Stupid auto-pilot. Prying his eye open slightly, he could make out twisted pieces of metal that once made up the hull, the controls, and even his own chair. The fact he was even alive to complain about the crash was a stroke of insane luck. The ship was just a mangled collection of scrap and would never fly again. He probably should try getting out of this place, but it felt like too much effort. His headache was still pounding and he just couldn't summon the energy.

"_Paul_," a strange, high-pitched voice screamed in a language he didn't know and yet could still recognize as a spoken language instead of a random noise. The sound wasn't helping his headache at all, however. "_Paul, are you all right? Where are you, boy? Please don't be under there, Paul. What __**is**__ it? Is it an airplane?_"

There was something crawling across the broken metal. He briefly wondered if it was some kind of rescue. He tried to remember if there was anyone who knew he'd crashed or even the full details of his stupid scientific mission, but apparently those types of facts are hard to focus on after the blow to his cranium that he'd undoubtedly experienced that would explain his headache. Hoping that the approaching sounds were indeed a rescue of some type, he tried to sit up. The wave of dizziness that hit him suggested that moving was not his best idea ever.

"_Paul, is that you? Come here, boy_," the high-pitched voice called again, apparently hearing him trying to get up. "_Come on, Paul. Be a good boy. Come on…_"

The voice fell silent as the speaker came into view. He threw up, though it was hard to tell if it was due to the weird appearance of the creature or due to his current nausea-inducing headache. It was only a small comfort that his would-be rescuer looked equally uneasy with his features.

Its head was tiny in comparison to its body and was half-hidden under long, light-colored hair. The eyes were puny, making him vaguely wonder how in the world anyone could see with them. Wearing some flowing white fabric with a brown fabric on top and carrying something in one of its hand, it was taller than him and seemed to have fairly long legs under the outfit. Add in the extra digit on each hand and that unnatural pinkish skin color, and it was definitely a strange creature.

"_You're not my dog_," the freaky thing cautiously muttered. "_Who are you? Are you okay?_"

He tried to scramble backwards away from it. There was no predicting if he'd just encountered some harmless creature or a dangerous carnivore. He knew that if you explore the galaxy long enough, you will run into an unusual number of threats. Unfortunately, he managed to his head against a twisted metal bar and ended up with his earlier pain intensified to an almost blinding level. He clutched his cranium and ended up producing a slight whimper.

The weird thing, responding to his accidental injury, crawled quickly towards him. Before he could try to escape again or even contemplate trying to disappear, it had wrapped its arms around his slight figure. Instead of a threatening gesture, it felt comforting and he relaxed. With his fears concerning the strange creature completely disproven, he allowed it to draw him into a hug. He was too tired and his headache was too strong for him to resist anyway.

"_Poor thing_," the high-pitched voice cooed softly. "_You need help. Dad is gone until tomorrow night. He's at my Aunt's, but he knows I'm a big girl and left me at home with my dog_." He had no idea what it was saying, but it was oddly comforting. Maybe that was its entire purpose: to comfort him. "_Don't worry; I'll take care of you. I'm old enough to take care of myself after all. First, let's get out of here_."

It picked him up, trying to balance him so that his head was protected and it could still see. Slowly and carefully, it began to scramble over the rough terrain. It seemed unsteady with both hands full, but it still managed. He glanced between his surprising rescuer and the odd object it had tucked under its arm when it picked him up, trying to determine if he should be doing anything about the situation. Finally, his general tiredness and pounding headache made the idea of sleep too good to resist any longer.

* * *

Waking up this time to illuminated surroundings, he found his headache had receded slightly and that he was practically cocooned in some warm fabric. He was inside of some type of building, filled with odd and primitive objects. His focus was instantly drawn to the only other occupant of the room: his rescuer. It was staring right back at him with its tiny eyes.

"_You're awake. That's good_," it chirped at him. He really needed to learn this language soon. It didn't sound too hard and then he might have an actual clue what in the world was happening. "_I can't find Paul anywhere, though. I think your…_" It stopped talking for a moment, as if thinking, but continued, "_space ship… squashed him. You're an alien from another planet, right? Like Mars? I know you didn't mean to hurt Paul_."

"_Paul?_" he repeated, remembering hearing that particular word several times.

"_Do you speak English?_" asked the odd being, sounding surprised. Getting frustrated with continuously referring to his rescuer as an 'it,' he decided that the high-pitched voice likely indicated it was a female. She continued, "_Do you understand me?_" When he didn't respond to her, she sighed and placed her and on her chest, "_My name is Tara. Tara Walton. Can you say 'Tara'?_"

Guessing that she was trying to identify herself, he slid his arm out of his warm bundle ad pointed at her, "_Tara_."

A smile and a nod indicated he had correctly picked her name out of the verbal chaos of the unknown language. They might be different species from different planets that were separated by light-years, but they were similar enough for an expression of approval to be recognizable. Even the original uneasiness brought on by her odd appearance had ebbed. While she was sort of weird looking, it wasn't that bad.

"_Right. Tara_," she stated, tapping her chest again. She pointed to him, "_What's your name?_"

Once more, her words were meaningless to him. The gesture, her questioning tone, and logic, however, suggested she was requesting his identity this time. Unfortunately, judging by the range of sounds she'd already emitted, she would not be able to replicate his name even if he told her. And he couldn't explain that problem to her either. Stupid language barrier.

When he didn't answer, she frowned slightly, "_You don't understand me at all, do you? But I have to call you __**something**__._"

She closed her eyes briefly and fell silent. When she didn't move for several moments, he began to wonder what was going on in her head. Was she trying to mentally connect with him somehow and either gain or give knowledge to him? Was she trying to deal with the undoubtedly great amount of stress she must be experiencing due to his arrival? Or was she just simply in deep thought about some topic? Unfortunately, he had no way to ask her and would not be able to comprehend the answer if she did provide it.

"_Well, your first word was 'Paul,' but that's my dog's name_," she muttered finally. "_Or, it __**was**__. And I know it was an accident. So, if you want to, I can call you 'Paul' too._" She pointed toward him again and chirped curiously, "_Paul?_"

Once more, she had used that word again. _Paul_. Only, this time, she seemed to be trying to indicate that he was _Paul_. While not even close to his real name and he had no idea what _Paul_ meant, it was probably as close as she could manage to find a name for him. Besides, he somehow could tell that she wouldn't give him an insultive or demeaning name. She was too nice for that sort of thing.

"_Paul_," he agreed.

She nodded and smiled, "_Okay, Paul, I called the police when you crashed, but I don't think Officer Bentley believed me. He said he'll come by tomorrow to look at my 'space ship,' but not tonight since he's going off-duty. I don't know what he'd be able to do to help you, but I had to call __**someone**__. And since Dad is too far away right now, I picked the police._ _Don't worry though, Paul. Officer Bentley is actually pretty nice. Once he sees you and your space ship, he'll believe me and help."_

Beyond the occasional use of his "new" name and other commonly repeated words that he was beginning to recognize (if not understand), her soothing words were little more than background noise. She eventually sat down beside him on the soft piece of furniture that she'd placed his cocooned form. He was warm, fairly safe, and feeling rather happy to be alive. Over all, things could be far worse.

The moment of peace was interrupted by the sounds of approaching machinery from outside the structure. _Tara_ stood up at the noise and crossed the room. She seemed surprised, but not immediately concerned. She glanced back at him.

"_I'll be right back, Paul_," she assured. "_Stay right there_."

She stepped out of sight and he heard a creaking sound of something opening. Her footsteps were slow and cautious as she went outside. Part of him wondered if he should be concerned that the only person on the entire planet he knew was out of sight, but he decided that he'd be fine for a few minutes while investigating the noise. From his cozy cocoon, he could see a window. It was still obviously night, but several lights were now approaching.

"_Paul, a lot of cars are coming this way_," his rescuer commented, sounding confused, as she came back into the room. "_I don't recognize them and I know almost everyone in Moorcroft_."

She walked back over and sat down beside him, wrapping her arm around him comfortingly. They sat there and listened to the approaching noise. When the machine sounds and lights were close, the noises suddenly cut off and were replaced by deep, authoritative voices speaking in _Tara_'s language. There were several of them by the sounds of it. When a loud banging sound erupted suddenly, both he and _Tara_ jumped in surprise.

"_Is there anyone home?_" a deep voice shouted as the knocking sound continued.

"_I'm not supposed to talk to strangers_," his rescuer yelled back.

The deeper voice, adopting a more calm tone, responded, "_I'm not really a stranger. I'm a good guy, like the police. Are your parents here?_"

Standing up slowly, she stepped closer to the unseen speaker and chirped, "_My dad isn't here right now. What do you want?_"

"_We heard your phone call and need to ask you a few questions. Did you see… anything?_"

"_You mean the crash? It hit my dog_."

"_I'm sorry about that, Miss Walton. We're here to take care of that, but you have to answer a very important question. Did you see anything else? Something unusual?_"

The exchange of foreign words was frustrating. He had no idea what was going on or what she was telling the deep-voiced speaker. Should he stay still or try to hide? Vanishing would be too easy to accomplish and could be the right course of action if the beings outside proved dangerous. _Tara_ currently was on guard, but not afraid. As long as she acted as if everything was under control, he planned to trust her judgment of the situation.

She glanced over at him and met his gaze. She didn't say anything, but she obviously wanted to assure him that everything would be fine. He smiled slightly, trying to let her know he got the message.

Turning back in the direction of the deep-voiced person and stated, "_There was someone in the crash. He wasn't human either._"

"_Do you know where it went?_" the unknown speaker shouted frantically. "_What did it look like?_"

"_Yes, I know where he is_," answered the light-haired being. "_If I let you in and tell you…_"

"_Don't worry, you can trust us._"

She stepped out of sight and he heard the creaking sound, "_Okay, but just you. Can all the other strangers stay outside?_"

"_Don't worry, they're busy with the crash site_," the deep voice assured, coming closer. "_They won't bother…_"

The strange words abruptly halted as the deep-voiced stranger caught sight of him. The expression of absolute shock that widened its eyes until they almost seemed normal-sized and appeared to be struggling to stay upright and conscious would normally seem hilarious. At the moment, however, he was trying to deal with his own reaction to the new arrival. The deep-voiced creature was freakishly tall. _Tara_ wasn't much taller than him, but this one towered over him. Tiny heads, huge bodies, a weird skin color, beady eyes, and a towering physique: these beings were just plain weird. Of course, if the normal appearance for them was to be tall, that could mean _Tara_ wasn't a mature example of the species. His rescuer might actually just be a child.

"_I don't think Paul speaks English_," she commented quietly, walking back over to him. "_But he seems to be okay now and has been acting very calm_."

"_This is amazing. Living proof of… Wait, 'Paul'?_"

"_I gave him a name_," she muttered, shrugging. "_I think he likes it._"

"_How do you know?_"

"_Like this_," she responded before turning towards him. "_Paul?_"

Guessing that she wanted some kind of reaction, he answered, "_Tara?_"

The giant, probably male, jerked back in surprise at the single word. It was actually fairly amusing. She did chuckle a little at the reaction. She sat back down beside his cocooned form.

"He already knows my name and his," she chirped. "_He seems really smart. Even if he crashed his space ship._"

"_I have… I have to tell my superior about this_," mumbled the giant. "_He's supervising clean up, but he needs to know that we have the occupant of the ship._"

"_He won't… hurt Paul, right?_" she asked, sounding suspicious of the tall being's words or tone. "_You just want to help him, right?_"

He giant didn't immediately answer _Tara_, but he eventually knelt down to be at eye level with the child and her wrapped up companion, "_I can't technically tell you that, but I am quite certain that they would rather learn from him than risk harming him_."

She nodded slowly, "_Okay_."

The giant stood back up and walked towards the exit. _Tara_ turned and looked at her very confused guest directly in the eye.

"_I know you don't understand me, Paul, but I'll miss you_," she cooed softly. "_After you are done with these men, can you come back and see me? Please?_"

He had no idea what she had said and couldn't even guess what she wanted. First chance he had, he was learning this language. Being in the dark was a real annoyance.

Farther away, he could hear the giant calling, "_Sir, you need to see this_."

Another set of footsteps approached from outside and joined the tall being just out of sight. Two separate voices muttered quietly, the foreign words too soft to make out at this distance. In a matter of moments, the giant re-entered the room with another tall being. While the giant he'd already met had light hair similar to _Tara_, though far shorter in length, the new one had short dark hair that was nearly black. He also had a patch of hair beneath his protruding nose that the other two lacked. Both of the adult specimens were wearing a darker outfit that was more form-fitting that _Tara_'s white flowing one. He wondered if the color choice was connected to age, gender, rank, or personal preference. He also wondered how his own, silvery outfit, pretty badly shredded by the crash-landing, would fit into this if the color choice was connected to a hierarchy of some type.

The dark-haired adult, just barely shorter than the light-haired giant, seemed surprised by his appearance, but was handling it better than the first adult. The dark-haired one didn't look like he was about to pass out at least. The newcomer simply took in the scene, studying them, and decided on a course of action efficiently.

"_You transport the target to the van while I handle the witness_," the dark-haired giant barked firmly to the light-haired one. "_As long as it offers no resistance, treat it well. If it tries to escape or offers violence, try to disable it without using lethal force_."

"_Yes, sir_," responded the light-haired giant, nodding slightly and walking over to the smaller pair. Quietly, he coaxed, "_Come on, Paul. Let's go_."

The stranger reached over and picked up the entire fabric-enshrouded package. He wanted to complain that he was perfectly capable of walking once he was unwrapped from the warm fabric cocoon, but he decided not to waste his breath. He just craned his neck so he could see _Tara_. She was glancing between him and the dark-haired adult who was looking down at her. As he was carried towards the exit, he could hear the dark-haired one speaking to the child.

"_This never happened, Miss Walton. It was only a meteor that fell in your yard. There was no space ship or alien_."

"_Yes, there was. It crashed on my dog and you just saw Paul_," her high-pitched voice chirped, sounding confused.

"_It never happened, we were never here, and nothing more than a piece of rock from space hit your dog. Everything else was just in your head_."

As the light-haired adult stepped outside, pulling the fabric up to conceal the being in his arms from the other tall entities that were moving around, he lost track of the conversation. Not that it mattered considering that he recognized only a couple dozen of the words and understood the meaning of only two names. He caught sight, barely, of his crashed vessel and winced at the twisted wreckage that they were swarming over. Once again, he felt extremely relieved to have survived the impact. He was quickly transported to one of the multiple wheeled objects that he quickly deduced to be a form of terrestrial transportation. The giant pulled open a door and set him down inside.

"_Stay back here, Paul_," the light-haired adult stated calmly, pointing down towards the floor of the wheeled transport. "_I'll be back in a few minutes. We have to load the remnants of your ship into the trucks and erase any evidence of your existence. We'll be taking you back to the base, though you'll probably end up at one with a higher level of security eventually. The only reason we were called in was proximity_." The tall being paused and rubbed the back of his head, "_I wish you could understand me, Paul._"

Without another word, the light-haired being closed the door and, judging by the click that followed, locked it. That could either be for his protection… or imprisonment. He didn't really want to consider the second option. No one had given him a reason to doubt they meant no harm. _Tara_ had been nothing but helpful and comforting; a child willing to crawl inside a crashed ship and rescue a complete stranger, let alone a completely different species, couldn't be considered a threat by even the most paranoid person. The light-haired giant was still fairly unknown, but he'd been behaving fairly reliably and calm. Plus, the giant was amusing since he almost fell over when they met. Since he currently didn't have any better options, he decided to wait and see.

Wiggling free of his warm fabric cocoon, he found out that he wasn't quite alone. Tucked inside the folds was a small, brown, fuzzy object that was vaguely shaped like some type of creature. It had four limbs and a head, but it was obviously not truly alive. He abruptly remembered seeing it in Tara's hand when she rescued him. Did she place it in her? He smiled slightly. Once he learned how to, he would have to come back and thank her.

**Okay, there's the first chapter. There is still a ways to go before our extraterrestrial is giving Steven Spielberg tips or riding in an RV with a pair of geeks. And, yes, the other humans will gain names eventually. I hope you enjoyed this. I enjoy feedback, so feel free to review. Thanks.**


	2. 1947: part 2

**I did warn you that updates would be insanely sporadic. I have no idea when the next one will be either, but I'll try to add some to this when I have the opportunity. I have other stories going on currently and trying to balance that many storylines without diminishing their quality is a true challenge. Especially since I have to do plenty of research of major events and other important facts of the time period. Also, the length of the chapters will likely vary depending on what is needed. Hopefully, these traits of the story will not be a problem for my readers.**

**An important note about this story is that, while most of the tale is told from the perspective of our extraterrestrial called "Paul," there will be cases when others will take over the narrative. Another important notice is that he'll eventually gain enough knowledge of the English language that the italics will stop being used. But not quite yet.**

**On a final note, I absolutely loved all the feedback on the first chapter. It made me smile and a happy writer is more likely to write quickly. So, enjoy the update and tell me what you think.**

They took him somewhere. He didn't know where, but that wasn't very surprising considering he was stuck on an alien planet populated by giants with tiny heads. Any location in this entire solar system was just as mysterious as another. This particular site was inside a new building in a room with a very thick door. It contained a piece of semi-soft furniture with a dark-colored fabric similar to the one that _Tara_ wrapped him in. He figured it was supposed to provide a place to sleep.

The light-haired giant had brought him to this room after the long trip in the wheeled vehicle. The strange being had taken great care to ensure no one spotted the crash victim, so he assumed the other giants weren't supposed to know about him yet. Considering that the light-haired one nearly collapsed when he first saw the being now answering to "_Paul_," it made some sense.

Gently, the giant deposited the objects from _Tara_ on the sole piece of furniture. He grinned uneasily.

"_You'll be staying in here for a few days, Paul_," he described in the still strange language. "_Just until we make arrangements to transport you to a more secure location. We can't let anyone know you're here yet, so most of the people on base and even those who helped clean up the crash site have no idea you exist_." He smiled a little more strongly, "_Imagine it, Paul. Someone like me actually knowing such an impressive national secret simply because I was supposed to question the witness. I found out about you even before my superior or even the president. Even if I could tell anyone about you, no one would believe me._"

He began straightening the bundle of cloth as he spoke, apparently intending to fold the fabric. Before he finished, the small animal representation tumbled free and landed on the floor. The light-haired giant paused and bent down to pick it up.

"_Is this hers? The little girl's?_" murmured the being, his tone questioning and yet not quite directed towards his audience. "_I guess she really is a special child. Not everyone would handle someone like Paul arriving and killing her dog so well that they'd give him their teddy bear._"

These last words were punctuated by a slight gesture towards the small object.

Experimentally, the recent crash victim repeated, "_Bear? Teddy bear?_"

A slight jerk of surprise was the small-headed creature's initial response, but he quickly nodded, "_Yes. Teddy bear. This_," he gestured to the item again, "_is a teddy bear_." He set the now-identified object on top of the folded fabric and muttered, "_None of those scientists and government agents coming will be able to ask you anything if we don't fix this language barrier_." He stared silently for a moment before stating firmly, "_A few English lessons are needed then_."

The giant walked over to the closed entryway and placed his hand on it. He met the other being's gaze and made certain to have his complete attention. Not that the grey and nearly empty room offered many distractions anyway.

"_This is a door. Door_," he declared, repeating the key word slowly. Sliding his hand off the _door_, he continued, "_This is a wall. Wall_." Bending down, he added, "_This is a floor. Floor_." Standing back upright, he pointed above them and finished, "_And that is a ceiling. Ceiling_."

While a few quick nouns might not make the most stimulating conversation, his student dutifully pointed towards the appropriate part of the room and repeated, "_Door, wall, floor, ceiling._" Frowning slightly in contemplation, he decided to experiment a little. Picking up the small object, he identified, "_Teddy bear_." Trying to go further, he asked, "_Tara teddy bear? Teddy bear Tara?_"

Happily, the light-haired giant figured out the intended question and corrected, "_Tara's teddy bear. It was Tara's teddy bear_."

The slight variation to the girl's name, the slight hissing sound at the end, was enough to indicate possession. A useful piece of information and another step to understanding the language. The tall being quickly added the words _bed, pillow_, and _blanket_ to his growing vocabulary before looking distracted.

"I _have to go now, Paul. I'll be back later, hopefully with something you can eat_," he stated. He paused to glance over the extraterrestrial, "_And maybe with some new clothes since yours is kind of… shredded_." The giant tugged absently at the various articles of his outfit before gesturing towards the absolute disastrous ones his audience currently wore. "_The scientists will probably want to study those anyway._" He smiled, "_Don't worry. Everything will be fine_."

With those final words, the light-haired being exited the room and left him alone.

* * *

"They want this kept absolutely secret. No one besides me, you, and that Walton girl has seen our discovery so far and the individuals coming to study it only have the vaguest notions of what we have," his superior explained.

The dark-haired man always managed to look disapproving of whoever or whatever he was talking about. Not that his current audience could properly complain about the dismissal of their newly-discovered national secret, referring to this clearly sentient being as an 'it.' He was too far down the chain of command to even consider it. It was only an impossible coincidence that he knew of Paul's existence and in normal circumstances he would not be allowed to have access to this information. Trying to correct or disagree with his superior would be pushing his luck too far.

The mustached man continued, "Until they arrive, not a single whisper of its existence must be heard. You will be in charge of it. Anything that needs to be done concerning it, you will handle it. All of your other duties are currently on hold."

The blond man didn't know how to respond. On the one hand, his superior wished to keep him involved in this very secretive matter. Essentially, he'd just been handed the highest clearance possible on the base. On the other hand, he'd only been allowed this privilege because his superior had no other choice. Any other option, any other person he might chose, would have to be briefed on the situation, which would increase the number of people with knowledge of this sensitive information. And that was something that he'd never do. He had no other options, so that left his superior to hand this task over to him. Of course, he was a fairly ideal candidate to keep a secret. He was relatively new to the base and his lack of any living relatives meant he was the least likely person here to be tempted into a compromising conversation.

Deciding to view it as an honor instead of something negative, he nodded, "Understood, sir."

The dark-haired man continued to explain, "The scientists will undoubtedly be occupied by studying it and the effect its existence could have on our understanding of the universe. They'll want to know if this thing is simply some deformed monkey or something truly new." He frowned slightly as he spoke, though his audience couldn't tell if the expression was in reference to the idea that someone would think that their unusual discovery was a monkey or simply a reflection of his opinion of scientists in general. "But I and more grounded individuals have to think of the bigger picture. One world war just ended a couple of years ago and with the way things are going in Europe, another could be on the way. Our country needs to know if we're facing a new, unknown enemy. Is it an advanced scout of some type? What kind of forces and firepower should we expect? These are the questions the more military-minded individuals will be addressing when they arrive. We need to know what type of threat we're dealing with. This is an opportunity to gather intelligence on the thing and we can't afford to waste it."

"I understand," he nodded again, trying to visualize the child-sized, confused, but obviously intelligent entity that he found calmly sitting with a little girl and was quickly learning English with the dangerous invader from another planet intent on deadly harm that his superior was seeing. He couldn't quite picture Paul as some malicious enemy of the homeland. The girl, Tara, had no fear of the strange being and the blond man felt she might have better judgement than those currently controlling his fate. "Will there be anything else?"

His superior paused, staring down at his neat and organized desk. Not a single sheet of paper was out of place and everything about him was by the book. The dark-haired man was not one to think outside the box; he was one who would strengthen the walls of the box so it would be inescapable. Even encountering Paul, something that was clearly outside of any experience he'd ever considered, barely gave him pause. Protocol and the chain of command gave him all the direction he needed. He would never bend the rules to fit changing situations; he'd bend circumstances to follow the rules. And the rules for finding an unknown being with unknown intentions was to detain said being and to request further instructions from those in charge and with expertise of that particular type of unknown being. Who would be considered the expert of obviously extraterrestrially-based beings would be and whose jurisdiction that falls under, the blond man did not know, but his superior apparently did and had been told to post-pone any questioning until they arrive.

As if following his audience's thoughts, the mustached man remarked, "We have a few days until they arrive, however. Though the need for information from our discovery is important, secrecy is even more important. The crash, and the vehicle's occupant, must be kept from the general public, so they are busy creating a distraction further south. By sheer coincidence, a weather balloon crashed the same night in a small town in New Mexico. Roswell, I believe. All the attention is being placed on that area, making certain that anything unusual is connected to that location instead of the true site. Have enough people who are convinced something happened at a place where it never did, and they will never think to look for clues somewhere else. But that sort of cover-up, by laying a false trail in another location, takes time. Until they are finished, we are on our own. Which should not be a problem, correct?"

"No, sir, I can handle it," the blond man answered.

"You're dismissed."

* * *

A quick-supply-gathering trip and he was back at the door to Paul's room. Paul's cell, if he wanted to be honest. Either way, he came with a few items to make things less prison-like. He also intended to transfer the extraterrestrial to another equally secure, but more comfortable room. It would be closer to a hotel room in style, with an attached bathroom and a few more pieces of furniture, and yet would still be locked from the outside and possess an overwhelming amount of grey. If they wanted to keep their unusual guest hidden and secure for several days, he didn't see why Paul couldn't be in more comfortable surroundings. After all, he was the one in charge of handling the matters concerning the small being. It was his responsibility to take care of him and he felt a different room would be better.

Unfortunately, all the thoughts concerning his intentions to make their peculiar entity more content vanished as he opened the door. The grey-walled room was absolutely deserted. The bed, the folded blanket, and even the teddy bear still remained undisturbed, but the short occupant was nowhere to be seen.

It didn't make sense. Granted, due to the fact most of the people on base believed the torn-up ship was the most important and only thing recovered from the site, everyone was guarding the twisted pieces of metal instead of a supposedly empty room. But it was locked and someone would have noticed the skinny being wandering around. There was no logical way he could have escaped, but the vacant room was all the evidence required to disprove that assumption. And if Paul was missing, he was in more trouble than he could possibly imagine.

The blond man took another step into the room, trying to convince himself that the extraterrestrial had managed to hide instead of escape. Still, considering that the only piece of furniture in the concrete cube was a cot, there was nowhere to conceal even the short being from sight. He was, undeniably, gone.

Abruptly, the skinny entity materialized directly in front of him. The blond man, as much as he would deny it later, stumbled backwards while uttering a wordless yelp of surprise. Somehow, he managed not to drop the items in his hands during his moment of panic, but it was a near thing.

As the man tried to slow down his racing heart, Paul began chuckling. As odd as it might seem that such a strange being would have anything in common with humanity, it was obvious that he was laughing at the reaction and found it to be funny. If he forgot for second he was dealing with something clearly not from Earth, it was easy to imagine as some regular person pulling a prank on a friend. Viewed that way, he couldn't help chuckling slightly himself.

"That was pretty good, Paul," the blond man acknowledged. "I didn't know you could… do whatever it was you just did. Disappear like that." Walking across the room, he set down his burdens. "I brought some food and a pair of pants. I guessed on the size, but I think it should work."

The big-eyed being studied the food choices curiously, apparently trying to decide on what he'd been provided was. Carefully, Paul picked up the apple and looked toward the blond man for answers.

"That is an apple. Apple," he answered. "It's a type of food. You eat it."

He mimed the act of taking a bite out of the fruit, which the extraterrestrial immediately grasped. The short entity swiftly consumed the apple, only stopping when his companion demonstrated that the core was inedible. Having concluded that everything resting on the plate was intended as a meal, Paul worked his way through the bread and carrots while taking a moment to gain the correct name.

After finishing off the glass of water, Paul gave him a slight nod that he assumed was supposed to be some form of acknowledgement and thanks. Before the blond man could respond, the skinny being frowned slightly and tilted his head.

Slowly, the short entity touched his chest and identified, "Paul."

The man nodded in response, wondering where he was going with this. When the extraterrestrial pointed towards the blond human, he realized what the question that Paul wanted to ask had to be. And the obviousness was rather embarrassing to the man.

"My name. You want to know my name," he muttered. "You can call me Mulder. Mulder."

**July 7, 1947 was when the whole "Roswell, New Mexico flying saucer crash" thing happened. And going by the calendar in Tara's house, that is pretty much when Paul arrived too. To put that into perspective, World War II ended in 1945. Also, the Cold War pretty much officially began May 22, 1947 from my research. And the C.I.A. won't be officially formed until September, just in case you were wondering. Thus, he ended up crashing during a pretty paranoid time period. Good thing that at least one person around there is willing to give our alien a chance.**

**And yes, I named his buddy after the "X-files" character. Paul **_**did**_** say that the character Agent Mulder was his idea. Perhaps he drew inspiration on the name from someone he knew.**

**Until next time, I hope you liked the chapter.**


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